Time to start crunching numbers

We've reached the point of the season where we need to dust off the calculator. Why the sudden need for the calculator?

This is the time of the year where playoff points become a factor as teams look to start positioning themselves for district playoff seeds. And for most of us math can be a scary thing.

If the season were to end today, and there are plenty of teams thankful that it doesn't, five teams from the Wyoming Valley Conference would qualify for the district tournament.

With Valley West's loss to Stroudsburg on Friday night, it all but assured that Scranton and Delaware Valley will lock up the two berths in the subregional playoffs with District 11.

Berwick is in the driver's seat in Class AAA, holding a 20-point lead over second-place Abington Heights. Crestwood is 10 points behind Abington Heights while Valley View is currently fourth.

Coughlin is on the outside looking in, but based on its schedule going forward has a chance to get in.

Dallas has to be considered a long shot unless a whole lot falls its way.

In AA the top four teams, Lake-Lehman, Lakeland, GAR and Wyoming Area, all have 4-2 records and 40 playoff points separates fourth-seeded Wyoming Area from top-seeded Lake-Lehman. The Black Knights hold a 10-point lead over Lakeland and GAR.

In Class A, it could be an all Lackawanna Conference tournament with Old Forge, Dunmore, Lackawanna Trail and Riverside leading the charge. Northwest is 90 points behind Riverside, but still has conference games against Lake-Lehman, Meyers and Wyoming Area left to play.

A grand night

Northwest Area running back Tony Politz became the first WVC player to surpass 1,000 yards rushing for the season when he picked up 222 yards on Friday night in a win over Nanticoke Area.

The 222 yards are a season-high for Politz, who ran for 221 on opening night against Holy Redeemer. Politz now has 1,047 yards and averages 9.2 yards per carry.

Against Nanticoke Area, Politz carried the ball 16 times and his longest runs were for 82, 81 and 21 yards. He was dropped behind the line of scrimmage one time and had one carry for no gain.

Not that many pages in the playbook

The fact that Hanover Area has three punters on the team is pretty remarkable. The fact that all three were injured Friday night is even more amazing.

So if you were scratching your head as to why the Hawks called for a fake punt on a fourth and 8 call from their own 11, the explanation was simple. There were no punters available.

The Hawks failed to get the first down, but Meyers wasn't able capitalize on the short field.

This is a rebuilding year for Hanover Area. But head coach Ron Hummer is seeing improvement every week.

"I said from the beginning that we are trying to get better every week," Hummer said. "You can have these years when you are 0-6 and the kids could just bag it and pack it in. They come to practice every day and are working hard."

If you didn't agree with the fake punt on fourth down that is your decision. But I challenge anybody to find a high school team that has four players capable of punting the ball.

Welcome to the club

Wyoming Area's Nick O'Brien became the 18th player from the Wyoming Valley Conference to reach 4,000 rushing yards for his career. O'Brien also became Wyoming Area's all-time rushing leader and his 4,098 yards place him 17th on the all-time list. Williamsport's Gary Brown, 4,135 yards and Tunkhannock's Reuben Sherman, 4,175 yards are next in line for O'Brien to pass.

A gambling man

GAR coach Paul Wiedlich Jr. has all the trust in the world in his defense.

Except there are certain situations where he goes with his gut. That was pretty clear on Saturday night when he went for it on fourth down four times against Lake-Lehman.

Two times he did it in the first half and the calls eventually led to two touchdowns. In the second half the Grenadiers went for it twice but came up empty.

"We have a lot of trust in our defense," Wiedlich said. "But anytime we get the ball near midfield, it depends on how we feel. We felt we have the athletes that at times kind of out matched them and felt we could get the first down."

Inside the box

Looks like the Dallas run defense is starting to come around. On Saturday afternoon six of Pittston Area's 19 rushing attempts went for negative yards. In all, the Patriots finished the afternoon with a total of three yards rushing.

School record

Wyoming Area's 69-28 win over Holy Redeemer was a milestone win of sorts for the Warriors. The 69 points are the most the Warriors have scored in a game in school history. The previous highs were 63 points against Bishop Hoban in 1997 and 61 points against Hanover Area the same year.

A nice honor

On Oct. 20 Bishop McDevitt High School will retire the jersey worn by former Pitt star and current Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy.

You may recall, when McCoy was in high school, Bishop McDevitt played Berwick at Crispin Field. Unfortunately, McCoy did not play in the game because of an injury.

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